Evaluation Plans

Overview

The Evaluation Plans tool allows users to draft a list of facilities, select one or more evaluation types to be conducted, and, once finalized, generate (publish) the evaluation records. Using the Evaluation Plans tool enables 'batches' of evaluations to be generated more efficiently than planning evaluations one by one. Users are able to select multiple sites, evaluation types, and evaluation dates, and the system will bulk-define evaluations based on the product of the selections (see Assign Evaluation Details for Selected Sites below for more information).  

Evaluation Plan Search

The Evaluation Plan Search page provides a list of the plans defined in the system. Evaluation Plans may be searched from the Global Search, or, when viewing a site, from the Site Navigation Menu. The list includes key information about each plan, such as workgroup, status, plan creator and creation date, and counts of evaluations within each plan.

Search Evaluation Plans from the Global Search

To search for Evaluation Plans using the Global Search:

The Evaluation Plan search page is displayed, allowing for searching of plans by various criteria such as plan name, workgroup, and program area. (See Navigation, Searching, and User Profile )

 

Evaluation Plans have two statuses: Unpublished and Published. 

  • Unpublished plans are essentially draft plans, and the evaluations contained within them have not yet been created as records in the system. This allows the user to modify the plan as needed, such as adding or removing facilities or evaluation types. When the plan has been refined and is ready to be finalized, the user publishes the plan.

  • When the plan is set to Published, the corresponding evaluation records are generated in the system. Published plans are not editable, but generated evaluations may be edited individually in the same manner as evaluations manually generated outside of a plan.

The core functions that can be performed in the Evaluation Plans tool are:

Create a New Evaluation Plan

To create a new evaluation plan:

  • Click the Add New Evaluation Plan button at the top of the Evaluation Plans list page:  

  • Provide a name for the new evaluation plan and select the workgroup that the plan should be associated with.  

  • Click Save.

The evaluation plan has now been created. The next step is to add evaluations that will be generated when the plan is published.

Add Evaluations to the Plan

The process for adding evaluations to be generated by an evaluation plan includes searching for sites to evaluate, specifying what types of evaluations to generate, adding them to the plan, and refining the list.

To begin, click the Add Evaluation(s) button.

Search for Sites to Evaluate

Upon clicking the Add Evaluations button, the Search Sites panel is displayed to identify sites to add to the evaluation plan.

To search for sites:

  • Click the search box below the Search Sites title to open the search panel.

  • Enter desired search criteria such as name, site type, county, or permit type.

  • Click the Search button.

Searching based on an nVISAGE Report

Sites may also be searched based on an nVISAGE report. To search for sites within an nVISAGE report:

  • Click the Search by nVISAGE Report button located in the search box.

    • A list of folders (bolded) containing reports is displayed:

  • Click the folder name to open the list of reports (not bolded) in that folder.

  • If you know the report name, you may type it in the Filter Reports field.

  • Click the report name to select the report (it will display in the list).

    • To clear the selected report, click the Clear button at the top of the list .

  • Select any additional criteria desired to further filter the report (e.g. Category, District).

  • Click Search.

    • A list of sites matching the search criteria is displayed for selection.

Making Reports Available to the Evaluation Plan Search

In order for a report to display in the Reports selection list:

  1. The report must be located within the "Inspection Plans" shared folder in nVISAGE. Reports can be nested within subfolders if desired.

  2. The report must include the Regulated Entity (Site, Person, or Organization) datasource in the report, since that provides the site identifier used by the Evaluation Plan.

Search Behavior

The search function returns a distinct list of sites from the nVISAGE report. The distinct list of sites is then further filtered by the additional search filter criteria provided. 

The search result displays one row for every active permit on the sites returned. This can result in the same site appearing multiple times in the search results. When adding sites to the Evaluation Plan Queue, care must be taken to prevent mistakenly adding the same site two or more times in the event that the site has multiple active permits. Filtering by Permit Category or Type can help prevent this. 

Select Sites

The next step is to select one or more sites to evaluate. 

To select sites:

  1. Click the check box next to one or more sites you wish to evaluate.

    • The right-side panel opens, and the site is added to the Evaluation Queue.

    • As each additional site is checked, it is added to the Evaluation Queue.

    • To add all sites in the search results list to the Evaluation Queue, click the topmost checkbox (to the left of the Site Name column header).

  2. As needed, perform additional searches and site selections using different search criteria, adding sites to the Evaluation Queue as needed.

It is important to note that, depending on the search criteria entered, the same site may appear multiple times in the list. This occurs when the site has more than one permit.

The selected site/permit number combination will be added to the evaluation.

Assign Evaluation Details for Selected Sites

Using the fields in the Assign Evaluation Details area of the right-side panel, multiple evaluations can be defined more efficiently than defining evaluations one by one. Users are able to select multiple sites, evaluation types, and evaluation dates, and the system will bulk-create the product of the selections.

For example, if a user selects seven sites, one evaluation type, and two inspection dates, there will be fourteen evaluations generated (7 sites x 1 inspection type x 2 inspection dates).

To specify evaluation details:

  • Select the appropriate options in the fields in the Assign Evaluation Details section.

    • Selected options will be applied to all sites in the Evaluation Queue.

    • Multiple Evaluation Types may be specified.

    • Multiple dates, plan years, or quarters may be specified.

  • Click the Add n Evaluation to Plan button to add the evaluations to the plan.

    • The Search Sites/Assign Evaluation Details page closes.

    • The Evaluation Plan Detail list contains the list of evaluations added to the plan.

The following fields are available under Assign Evaluation Details: 

Field

Description

For EPA Commitment

Checkbox used to indicate the agency is making a commitment to EPA to complete the evaluation within the plan timeframe. Whether or not this field is displayed is configurable for each evaluation type, and is managed on the Admin > Lookups > Evaluation Types > Edit Evaluation Type page. Consequently, it will only be displayed on the Evaluation Plans page if one or more of the evaluation types selected for the evaluation plan is configured to display this field.

Evaluation Type

The type of evaluation to be generated (One or more Evaluation Types may be selected).

Workgroup

The workgroup the evaluation will be assigned to.

Evaluator

The user that the evaluation will be assigned to.

Plan Year and Quarter

The plan year or quarter during which the evaluation is to be completed. One or more plan years or quarters may be selected. When this option is chosen, evaluations in the evaluation plan will have a Scheduled Date equal to the last day of the the selected Plan Year/Quarter.

Note: Fiscal Quarters/Years are configured directly in the database (DATE_DIM table). The default Fiscal Year runs from October 1 to September 31.

Date Control

A particular date by which the evaluation is to be completed. One or more dates may be selected.

 

View or Edit an Evaluation Plan

To view an evaluation plan:

  • Click Evaluation Plans on the Home menu.

  • Click the search box below the Evaluation Plans title.

  • Enter search criteria such as Workgroup or Status.

  • Click Search.

    • The Evaluation Plans list is populated with plans that match the search criteria.

  • Click the Open button next to the evaluation plan you wish to view or edit.

    • The plan may be edited if:

      • You have editing rights to the plan.

      • The plan is in Unpublished status.

To Add more evaluations to the plan:

  • Follow the steps above to view the evaluation plan.

  • Click the Add Evaluation(s) button.

To Edit evaluations currently in the plan:

  • Follow the steps above to view the evaluation plan.

  • Click the Open button next to the evaluation you want to edit.

  • Change Evaluation Type, Workgroup, Evaluator, EPA Commitment, or Plan Date, as needed.

  • Click Save to save the changes.

To Delete evaluations from the plan:

  • Follow the steps above to view the evaluation plan.

  • Click the checkbox next to the evaluations you wish to remove from the plan.

  • Click the Remove Selected button

    • The selected evaluations are removed from the plan.

Publish an Evaluation Plan

Publishing an evaluation plan generates the actual evaluation records in the system and makes them available for processing by the assigned workgroup and/or evaluator. Once published, an evaluation plan cannot be edited.

To publish an evaluation plan:

  1. Click the Publish button:

    • Click Yes to confirm the publication of the plan.

    • Click No to cancel the publication of the plan.

Delete an Evaluation Plan

Only unpublished evaluation plans may be deleted. To delete an evaluation plan:

  • Click Evaluation Plans on the Home menu.

  • Click the search box below the Evaluation Plans title

  • Enter search criteria such as Workgroup or Status.

  • Click Search.

    • The Evaluation Plans list is populated with plans that match the search criteria.

  • Click the Delete button:

     on the right side of the screen for the plan you wish to delete.

    1. Click Yes to confirm the deletion of the plan.

    2. Click No to cancel the deletion of the plan.